My A - Z of books

I've mentioned before how I never really laugh out loud.  Not because I lack a sense of humour, a soul or any joy in my heart *gip*, I just don't laugh out loud seemingly.  I would love to, especially when I go to see a funny film or a comedian I look like I'm dead inside sat there with a slight smirk on my face nodding my appreciation like an emotionless robot.  SIGH.  What has this got to do with My A - Z of books?  Because this week is 'L' for 'Let's Pretend This Never Happened' by Jenny Lawson, and goddammit, it's made the list because it made me actually LOL!

Lawson's memoir is hilariously honest, engaging, ridiculous (zombie dog story) and her love of weird taxidermy only raises her further up the pedestal I am happy to place her on for making me LOL.   Lawson was a blogger before she was a writer and as such I found her style more engaging, she is a better storyteller, less focused on writing for other writers which seems to be a thing now.  I read a quote on Pinterest that said 'seeing a person reading a book you love is like having the book recommend the person', I think if I saw others reading this book, chuckling along to it there is a good chance we would get along.  

My A - Z of books

No image this week because the book I am referring to is actually in the shed on my allotment... This week 'K' is for Kevin Forbes, and his book 'Keeping an Allotment'.

MoMa bought it for me, it's a very straightforward guide to growing veg, no fancy photography and very functional illustrations.  The reason it has made it into my A - Z is because I am constantly referring to it, if I had a scan of it you would find mud on almost every page as I stand in the middle of the plot thumbing through it's pages to get advice on planting beans or carrots!

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J

My A-Z of books

Here we are at 'J' and this week it is for Jon Rosenberg.  I came across Jon Rosenberg's books when I finished reading the Ben Aaronovitch's books and my kindle recommended The Digital Wolf the first in Rosenberg's Hidden Academy series.

I loved his books, they were so readable, daft, funny and frankly moreish!  I blogged about Rosenberg's books in January 2013 as part of my Month of Reading posts.  In January 2014 whilst sat in the Picture House at a livestreaming of the National Theatre production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus an email popped up on my phone (MozzyMr was hating every second of the play and was being just a little distracting so I checked it...) it seemed to be a comment from Jon Rosenberg himself:

"Hi Anna,

I'd just like to say thank you for such a lovely set of reviews. There are many perks to being a writer but few match that of seeing people enjoy what you've put out into the world. 

Currently I'm twenty four chapters into the next volume in The Hidden Academy series and hope to have it out and available to be read sometime this spring. 

Best wishes and many thanks, 


Jon Rosenberg"

EEeeeeeep!  It took a lot to contain the excitement, I hope the comment is from Rosenberg because frankly that would be cooool.  

My A-Z of books

This week is 'I' for Irvine Welsh.  Believe it or not Irvine Welsh marked my transition from teen fiction to adult fiction, and boy was that a transition...

Irvine Welsh wrote Trainspotting but The Acid House was the first of his books that I read.  When I was at secondary school our English teacher had a poster for The Acid House in his classroom, I chanced upon it in a bookshop when I was on a daytrip with my mum.  Boy was this book an eye opener, be assured if my mum had known the content of it she wouldn't have bought it for me.  Well anyway, at the start of each English lesson we would have ten minutes of reading time whilst reading The Acid House my jaw hit the desk, my friends wanted to take a look.... that caused quite a stir.  Long story short the book was confiscated until the end of my time at school.  I did read the rest of Irvine Welsh's books and enjoyed them.. angry man that he is. 

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H

Happy World Book Night!

Happy World Book Night!! I have suspended my A-Z of books for one week because I am excited to be a book giver of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London which I first read in 2012 and have re-read a number of times since!  I collected my books from our vibrant if small local library yesterday and have been giving them out to strangers, friends and colleagues all morning!

Mewster wanted in on the action, to be fair anything to do with boxes and Mew is all over it but hey I like to think I have a literary cat... To those of you who have received a copy from me a really hope you enjoy it, don't forget to pass the book on so as many people as possible can enjoy!

My A-Z of books

What else could I possibly have for 'H' other than the Harry Potter books?

What is becoming very clear to me through the course of writing up my A-Z of books is that I am massively judgey about books, how very narrow minded of me!  When I was working at Waterstones I would sell the Harry Potter books by the truck load, I kept being told I should read them, I don't respond that well to people telling me that I MUST read this book or see that film.  Anyway one day I didn't have anything lined up as my next read so thought I should at least read the first one so I could talk about it with the customers.  Yeeeeah I was totally hooked, I read one after the other in quick succession until I reached the end of The Prisoner of Azakaban where I had to wait with everyone else desperate for The Goblet of Fire to be released. I re-read the Harry Potters regularly and love picking up on the little details that I may have missed in previous readings.  I look forward to when my nieces are old enough to start reading them, I hope they enjoy them as much as I have.

My favourite of the front covers would have to be the one above.  I love the watercolour/sketchy nature of it as well as the 80's train behind the Hogwarts Express!

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G

My A-Z of books

G was such an easy choice, this man... John Green.  The first of his books that I read was Paper Towns which had been recommended to me by a colleague of mine.  We both used to work at Waterstones so were pretty hot on recommendations but John Green had passed me by (I hadn't discovered the rich seam of Young Adult fiction at that point).  I was immediately hooked on all of John Green's books, he is such a great author and someone who I would consider to be an awesome influence for young adults.  His YouTube channel is amazing, in particular his exploration of the cost of healthcare in America.  

John Green is a decent human being, and for that reason alone you should read ALL of his books.

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F

My A - Z of books

Crikey, F already??  Finding a book for this letter wasn't an effort at all: Fifty Shades of Feminism by various writers.

I was chatting with an acquaintance of mine at work, we were discussing the Pole Dancing Society being advertised on campus as being 'empowering' to women, great for fitness etc etc etc... mmm.   Any sort of minge wiggling for the entertainment of men doesn't seem that empowering to me but hey.  As a result of this conversation the acquaintance I was chatting with recommended Fifty Shades of Feminism, a collections of essays written in response to the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey by women from across the world.  The book was absolutely inspiring, eye-opening, shocking, thought provoking and powerful.  For anyone even remotely switched on to feminism (so that's everyone, right?  Right?) this is a must read.

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E

My A - Z of books

Hello again!  Just under a month to go until World Book Night, I can't wait to pick up my books from my local library and start preparing for the big day (night)!

To continue my celebration of  becoming a book giver for World Book Night, and to celebrate all things books I continue my A-Z of books with the letter 'E'.  Enigma by Robert Harris:

I am a total book snob, I will be judgey about a book cover and I'm unlikely to ever read books like the Da Vinci Code because of the hype surrounding it and Dan Brown.  When I worked at Waterstones during my degree I was like this about Robert Harris, I don't really know why, I just was.  I had seen the film Engima (the one with Kate Winslet in) but just hadn't made the link to Harris' book, a friend recommended it to me.  Now I was a bit dubious but I trusted her taste in books so I gave it ago, I liked it a lot and I've re-read it at least once, possibly twice.  You're probably picking up on my slightly lukewarm review?  Usually I fill blog posts about books I've liked with far too many exclamation marks and I overuse the term 'awesome', so why am I including a book I 'liked' in my A - Z of books?  Because Engima represents a time when I got over my book snobbery (even if it was just a little bit) and decided to read books I wanted to read, rather than just read books I thought I should read or be seen reading.  I think that's quite grown-up really.

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C
• D

My A - Z of books

Hallo, welcome back!  This week my A - Z of books focuses on 'D' for Dictionaries.  When I was at University I was living in a shared house with MozzyMr and a bunch of super brainy folk.  When we couldn't afford to go out we'd play Scrabble, things were so competitive that one Christmas I asked MoMa and MoPa for the largest dictionary they were happy to buy me, because if I had the largest, most detailed dictionary then I had the best chance of winning with obscure words...

(I am aware this photo contains Thesauruses not Dictionaries, thank you bye)

Chez Moz has at least six dictionaries, we like words, and we're competitive when it comes to Scrabble and this is why I had to have Dictionaries within my A -Z of books.

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B
• C

My A - Z of books

Week three and we arrive at 'C' on my A - Z of books journey, and so to Caitlin Moran.

Author, journalist, feminist, and Sherlock lover, there is no better combination in my mind!  Her books; How To Be a Woman, Moranthology and The Chronicles of Narmo approach a broad range of topics including feminism, botox, shoes, Sherlock, kids, the workplace, strip-clubs, love, and Topshop with a sense of humour that resonates with me.  

Her books made me re-engage with feminism and acted as a launchpad for me reading a range of modern feminist articles and books.  I understand her humour isn't for everyone but I would urge you to read her books, in particular How To Be a Woman.

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A
• B

My A - Z of books

Welcome back to my A - Z of books, these posts are to celebrate being chosen as a World Book Night 2014 book giver and to celebrate all things books!

A scan of my copy of the BFG.  You can see the remains of 'The Walt Disney Company' transfer stickers on the cover.  I applied those transfers to everything I owned!

And so to 'B' on my list....it had to be The BFG by Roald Dahl, this was the first book I bought with my own money and I adored it.  We were on holiday in York, I can't remember how old I was when I bought it but whilst curled up on my camp bed in the hotel room breathing in new book smell and feeling like a proper grown up for having bought a book I lapped the story up.  I plan to visit the Roald Dahl museum at some point, my nieces report that it is pretty good!

Standard practice, writing my name over everything, I've even gone with 'I like the BFG'.  Never one to exaggerate apparently.

Almost everyone I know adores Roald Dahl books, which did you first own and which is your favourite?

Here is a recap of my A-Z so far:

• A

My A - Z of books

Woo hoo!  I am so chuffed to be chosen as a World Book Night 2014 book giver.  I was a book giver in 2012 with The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak which is one of my all time favourite books.  When I saw that Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch was listed I had to apply again, I adore his Peter Grant books and can't wait to share Rivers of London with friends and strangers alike!

To celebrate I thought I would write a series of weekly posts outlining my personal A - Z of books, showcasing authors and books that have influenced me in my *cough* 32 years.

So lets begin with A:

It seems appropriate enough to start with 'Aaronovitch' as my A on this list.  A friend at work recommended this to me, once I had finished it I was hooked on the series.  A symptom of writing my old 'A Month of Reading' posts on this little blog was that I read books that I thought I should read rather than books I really wanted to read.  Rivers of London was one I really wanted to read and from that point onwards I stopped writing the posts and started reading everything I wanted to whether high or low brow.

I hope you'll join me next Tuesday for 'B' on my A-Z of books!